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The Jackal (1997 film)
|runtime = 124 minutes |country = United States |language = English Russian |budget = $60 million |gross = $159.3 million |}} The Jackal is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed by Michael Caton-Jones, and starring Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, and Sidney Poitier. The film, which is a loose remake of the 1973 film The Day of the Jackal, involves the hunt for a paid assassin. Plot A joint mission of the FBI and the MVD leads to the death of the younger brother of an Azerbaijani mobster. In retaliation, the mobster hires an assassin known only as the "Jackal" to kill an unidentified target. The Jackal demands $70 million for the job, to which the mobster agrees. Meanwhile, the MVD capture one of the mafia's henchmen. During interrogation, the henchman reveals the name "Jackal". This, coupled with documents recovered from his briefcase, leads the FBI and MVD to assume the target for the retaliatory hit is FBI Director Donald Brown. As the Jackal begins his preparations for the assassination—utilising a series of disguises and stolen IDs in the process—the FBI learns of one person who can identify him. FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston and Russian Police Major Valentina Koslova turn to a former IRA sniper named Declan Mulqueen, who had a relationship with an ETA militant named Isabella Zancona, who they believe can identify The Jackal. Mulqueen eventually agrees to help in exchange for their best efforts to get him released from prison. It later transpires that Mulqueen has a personal motive for hunting the Jackal: the assassin wounded Zancona while she was pregnant with Mulqueen's child, causing a miscarriage. Zancona provides information that can help identify the Jackal, including the fact that he is American and that he had served in the U.S military and was stationed at El Salvador. Meanwhile, the Jackal arrives in Montreal to pick up the weapon he intends to use and hires gunsmith Ian Lamont to design and build a mount for it. Underestimating the threat represented by the assassin, Lamont demands more money and is killed by the Jackal. The FBI discovers Lamont's remains and, with Mulqueen's help, deduce that the Jackal intends to utilize a long range heavy machine gun. With the help of a Russian mole in the FBI, the Jackal realizes that he is being tracked by Mulqueen with assistance from Zancona, and he infiltrates Zancona's house after receiving an FBI access code from his insider. Instead of Zancona, however, he finds Koslova and Agents Witherspoon and McMurphy. He kills the agents and mortally wounds Koslova. The Jackal says that Mulqueen "can't protect his women," which she repeats to Mulqueen as she dies. As the Jackal makes his final preparations, Mulqueen realizes that his target is not Brown, but the First Lady, who is due to give a major public speech. The Jackal plans to shoot the First Lady via remote control. Arriving just in time, Mulqueen successfully sabotages the Jackal's weapon, while Preston absorbs a bullet meant for the First Lady. After a cat-and-mouse chase through the subway tunnels, Mulqueen and Zancona shoot the assassin dead. A few days later, Preston and Mulqueen stand as the only witnesses to the Jackal's burial in an unmarked grave. Preston reveals that he is going back to Russia to pursue the mobsters who hired the Jackal. It is revealed that Mulqueen's request to be released was denied, but that he will likely be moved to a minimum security prison. Preston's heroics in saving the First Lady have made him a hero in the FBI. Knowing his current clout will prevent any real backlash against him, Preston turns his back on Mulqueen, allowing him to go free. Cast *Bruce Willis as the Jackal *Richard Gere as Declan Joseph Mulqueen *Sidney Poitier as FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston *Diane Venora as Major Valentina Koslova, MVD *Mathilda May as Isabella Celia Zancona *J. K. Simmons as FBI Agent Timothy I. Witherspoon *Richard Lineback as FBI Agent McMurphy *John Cunningham as FBI Director Donald Brown *Jack Black as Ian Lamont *Tess Harper as First Lady Emily Cowan *Leslie Phillips as Woolburton *Stephen Spinella as Douglas *Sophie Okonedo as Jamaican Girl *David Hayman as Terek Murad *Steve Bassett as George Decker *Yuri Stepanov as Viktor Politovsky *Ravil Isyanov as Ghazzi Murad *Walt MacPherson as Dennehey *Maggie Castle as Maggie the 13 year old hostage *Daniel Dae Kim as Akashi *Michael Caton-Jones as Man in Video *Peter Sullivan as Vasilov *Richard Cubison as General Belinko *Serge Houde as Beaufres *Ewan Bailey as Prison Guard *Jonathan Aris as Alexander Radzinski *Edward Fine as Bill Smith *Larry King as Himself *Murphy Guyer as NSC representative Reception Critical response The Jackal received a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Jackal is a relatively simple chase thriller incapable of adding thrills or excitement as the plot chugs along." Metacritic gave the film a score of 36 out of 100 based on 20 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it a "glum, curiously flat thriller"; Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "more preposterous than thrilling"; and Russell Smith of the Austin Chronicle called it "1997's most tedious movie".The Austin Chronicle: Film Listings. Box office The Jackal was released on November 14, 1997, with an opening weekend totaling $15,164,595. It went on to gross $159,330,280 worldwide, against a $60 million budget. Music The original score for "The Jackal" was composed by Carter Burwell. It was never officially released on CD, although Burwell uploaded select cues from the film to his website. The project was not a happy experience for Burwell; he disliked the script, and disapproved of producer Danny Saber's remix of his score. See also *The Assignment (1997 film) References External links * * * Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:1997 films Category:1990s action thriller films Category:American action thriller films Category:American films Category:American political thriller films Category:American remakes of British films Category:American remakes of French films Category:English-language films Category:Film scores by Carter Burwell Category:Films about assassinations Category:Films about contract killing Category:Techno-thriller films Category:Films about the Russian Mafia Category:Films about the Irish Republican Army Category:Films based on British novels Category:Films directed by Michael Caton-Jones Category:Films set in Finland Category:Films set in Russia Category:Films set in Washington, D.C. Category:Mutual Film Company films Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios Category:Russian-language films Category:Universal Pictures films